By Kodjo Adams
Accra, Oct.11, GNA- Reverend John Ntim Fordjour, Deputy Minister of Education, has underscored the importance of play-based pedagogies in building the cognitive abilities of children in schools.
“Play-based learning inspires confidence among the learner, makes them bold, and gets them engaging to be able to speak, listen actively, and enjoy the learning experience,” he said.
The Deputy Minister said this at an event to mark the 20th anniversary of Sabre Education, an NGO that focused on early childhood education.
“It is one thing having a play-based curriculum and another thing having the appropriate play-based pedagogies that will deliver instruction out of that curriculum,” he said.
He said Ghana, through the partnership with Sabre Education, Right to Play, UNICEF, and Lively Minds, developed a formidable play-based system for early childhood education.
He said the play-based learning helped the children to be creative, critical thinkers, solve problems together, and build their talents.
Research shows that 90 per cent of the brain development of a child takes place within the first five years.
Rev Fordjour stated that mainstreaming kindergarten into the country’s education system had led to the training of teachers specialising in early childhood education.
“Beyond that, teachers that are also trained in differentiated learning help them to identify the various learning abilities among their learners to transform the classroom setting, and make it more engaging.
“We have been able to transform children’s proficiency in learning, reading, literacy, and numeracy at primary two in 2015 from two per cent to 38 per cent.
“We want to be able to improve upon that to a minimum of 90 per cent of learners who are very proficient in literacy and numeracy by the time they turn age 10.”
Ms Susan Place Everhart, Chief Executive Officer of Sabre Education, said the organisation, for 20 years, had worked with the Ghana Education Service to train kindergarten teachers in the play-based methodology.
That, she stressed, allowed teachers to set up a play-based classroom with play centres around the room where children can explore and learn through play.
“It has been shown that children who learn in this way have increased literacy, increased numeracy, and psychosocial skills compared to children who learn in a rote-based classroom,” she said.
She said Ghana was a leader in early childhood education in sub-Saharan Africa, adding that scaling up play-based learning was the most effective way for young children to learn.
The leadership of Sabre Education presented plaques to distinguished educationists in the country for championing the course of early childhood education.
GNA